Automatic firearm



Juhe 9, 1942. o, E|ANE 2,285,503

AUTOMAT I C FIREARM Filed Aug. 3, 1939 Patented June 9, 1942 TENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic fire-arms and particularly to my earlier invention of an automatic rifle, illustrated and described in Patent No. 2,144,241, of January 1'7, 1939, in which the breech bolt operates directly in front of the gunners face, and as such requires an extra long gunstock between the receiver and the butt plate, which in turn renders the firmarm muzzle heavy; and therefore the main objective of the present improvements are for the purpose of obtaining a better balance of the arm, by providing it with offset front and rear sights and allowing the breech bolt mechanism to operate along the right side of the gunners face, whereby considerable reduction can be made in the gunstock behind the receiver.

I attain part of this important objective by the use of a bolt guard, hereinafter more fully described and claimed having reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 represents a top plan view of the guard in detached relation. Fig. 2 is a right side view in elevation of the guard, also in detached relation. Fig. 3 is a right side view of a lock device for rear support of the guard shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 represents a side view of an eye-bolt for front support of the guard, shown in detached relation.

Fig. 5 is a right side view of a receiver extension provided with means for support of the eye-bo1t shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a side view elevation of a fire-arm embodying the principle of my invention, showing the guard in its operative position.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that a bolt guard 69 is provided with a threaded front terminal 10, which screws into a threaded eye ll, located at the upper end of a threaded eye-bolt 12.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be noted that a hubshaped formation 13, located on a receiver extension which carry the thumb guard l5lA, is drilled and threaded on its inside (not shown) to receive the eye-bolt 12.

At the rear end of the guard 69 is formed a lock terminal 14, which has a flat milled section 15 slightly tapered rearward to fit into a similarly formed slot 16, shown in Fig. 18 as extending transversely through a lock device 11 which is embedded and secured in the gunstock, as indicated in Fig. 6. A transversely disposed passage 18 communicates with the slot 16.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be noted that a slipjoint 19 is located at near the front end of the guard 69, so as to permit said guard to be more readily bent in the act of locking and unlocking its rear end.

It will be particularly noted that in Fig. 1, the rear lock terminal 14 is somewhat shorter than the front terminal 10, but this difference is compensated for by having the slot 16 offset toward left with respect to a centerline drawn through the bore of the fire-arm, so that the middle part of the guard 69 will line up parallel to said centerline when in normal raised position, and also to be able to lie snugly to the right side of the gun-stock when folded.

The guard 69 is made of tempered spring steel, and arranged so that when in locked position, rearward pressure is exerted by the terminal 14 against the rear end of the slot 61, thereby maintaining the guard 69 in a firmly locked position.

To unlock and fold the guard 69 on the right side of the gun-stock, it is only necessary to push the rear terminal 14 forward until it reaches the transverse passage 18, from which point it can be withdrawn toward left and the guard 69 raised on its front terminal Ill as a pivotal point to a vertical position; at this stage the eye-bolt I2 is given a half turn unscrewing and the said guard brought down on the right side of the gunstock and the rear terminal M locked in the reverse order of its unlocking.

It will be borne in mind that threads on the front terminal 10 and the eye-bolt 12 fit loosely enough to be manipulated by hand.

I do not intend to limit my invention to the exact description and drawing as herein given, as many changes can be made without departing from the principles involved.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an automatic fire arm having a receiver and a reciprocating bolt action mechanism operating within and beyond said receiver, a flexible grated bolt guard adapted for use with offset left side gun sights and mounted parallel to the reciprocating path of said bolt mechanism, said and provided with a flat milled section thereon,

a stationary rear end locking device provided with a transverse passage and a reduced slot extending rearwardly from said passage, said flat.

milled section of said rear terminal adapted to expand into said slot and lock said guard in its operative position.

2. In an automatic fire arm having a receiver and a reciprocating bolt action mechanism operating within and beyond said receiver, a flexible grated bolt guard mounted parallel to the reciprocating path of said bolt mechanism at the left side thereof, said guard comprising a grated main body, a threaded front terminal set at a right angle to said main body, an eye-bolt threaded into vertical position at the rear end of said receiver and threaded internally in its eye for reception of said front terminal, a rear terminal also set at a right angle to the main body of said guard and provided with a fiat milled section thereon, a stationary rear end locking device provided with a transverse passage and a rearwardly extending slot, said rear terminal adapted for insertion from the left side of said passage for locking of said guard in its operative position and in reverse order from the right side of said passage when said guard is folded toward right in an inoperative position.

HALVOR OLSEN EIANE. 

